limited by price. She kept recalling Mrs. Murdock’s advice, “Get as
many things as you can for a cent a-piece.” The expensive toys
tempted her, but although she often stopped and looked them
wistfully over, she always ended by going to the cheaper counters.

“You ought to be thinking how you’ll decorate the windows for your
first day’s sale,” Billy advised her. “You must make it look as
tempting as possible. I think, myself, it’s always a good plan to
display the toys that go with the season.”

Maida thought of this a great deal after she went to bed at night.
By the end of the week, she could see in imagination just how her
windows were going to look.

Saturday night, Billy told her that everything was ready, that she
should see the completed house Monday morning. It seemed to Maida
that the Sunday coming in between was the longest day that she had
ever known.

When she unlocked the door to the shop, the next morning, she let
out a little squeal of joy. “Oh, I would never know it,” she
declared. “How much bigger it looks, and lighter and prettier!”

Indeed, you would never have known the place yourself. The ceiling
had been whitened. The faded drab woodwork had been painted white.
The walls had been colored a beautiful soft yellow. Back of the
counter a series of shelves, glassed in by sliding doors, ran the
whole length of the wall and nearly to the ceiling. Behind the show
case stood a comfortable, cushioned swivel-chair.